Topps #16: Heraldic bookplates

Unlike Jay Lynch, I never thought of saving my roughs for Topps. Above is an exception which I just found buried in my files. I have no memory of this, but it must be that Woody Gelman handed me some kind of reference materials about heraldic bookplates and asked me to design a prototype that could be expanded into a full sticker series. I did this with a Rapidograph and markers on layout paper.

I must have saved it because there was never a green light to create more in the series, so this was the only example of what could have been. Kids could have put these on their notebooks or other items. So why was it killed? Maybe a notion that kids didn't know or care about heraldry? Maybe the humor wasn't wild enough? Maybe no sales potential after a kid found his own name? Well, it that were the case, it could have been packaged as a bonus item in another series.

While searching for bookplates similar to the Topps design, I ran across Forgotten Bookmarks, a site devoted to letters, lyrics, photos, tickets, drawings, recipes and other ephemera found inside used books.